verb

• 1Form or cause to form crystals.

  no object ‘when most liquids freeze they crystallize’

  More example sentences

  • ‘thermal processing is required in order to crystallize the ink’
  • ‘As the solution cools, quinine sulfate crystallizes out.’
  • ‘Such solutions are unstable and the addition of a tiny amount of the solute will cause all of the excess solute to crystallize out of solution.’
  • ‘At regular intervals they remove samples and measure how many of the C triglycerides in the liquid oil phase crystallise out.’
  • ‘This is important because macromolecules are difficult to crystallize, and usually will form only crystallites whose structures are difficult to analyze.’
  • ‘It has been suggested that upon the rapid freezing, water molecules crystallize on the lipid interface, forming two frozen planes separated by the hydrophobic core of the membrane.’
  • ‘Many biological molecules can only be crystallised with difficulty, if at all, and even then the conformation may not be representative of the molecule in the living cell.’
  • ‘They are heated and cooled relatively rapidly so the materials do not crystallize.’
  • ‘This also occurs naturally in the earth; hot gases evaporate and leave behind saturated minerals which then crystallize.’
  • ‘Base oils contain hydrocarbons that tend to crystallize into waxy materials at low temperatures.’
  • ‘At sufficiently high concentrations, solute molecules or ions may exceed their solubility, and begin to crystallize.’
  • ‘This is why crystallised enzymes often retain their catalytic activities.’
  • ‘Another type of solid exists, an amorphous solid, that does not crystallize.’
  • ‘The remains of those creatures left minute freckles of organically produced carbon, which crystallized into graphite.’
  • ‘If left undisturbed for a long period of time, a glass will very slowly crystallize.’
  • ‘It soon became clear that the best mineral from which to measure this ratio was zircon, because zircon excludes almost all initial lead when it crystallises.’
  • ‘Water removal can damage membranes, increase ionic strength, change pH, crystallize solutes and denature proteins.’
  • ‘Large, good-quality crystals are valued by structural biologists, but some organic molecules are easier to crystallize than others are.’
  • ‘The only thing left in their packs was water, which had long ago started to crystallize and freeze.’
  • ‘The sugar will start to crystallize; don't panic.’
  • ‘The product is sweetened with organic crystallized cane sugar and contains no unnatural stabilizers or preservatives.’

  Synonyms

  form crystals, solidify, harden

  View synonyms
• 2Make or become definite and clear.

  ‘vague feelings of unrest crystallized into something more concrete’

  More example sentences

  • ‘writing can help to crystallize your thoughts’
  • ‘A good briefing can save you hours of legwork and days of phone- and email-tag, particularly when you want information that can't be crystallized into a quick, clear question.’
  • ‘His ideas never crystallized into a system: he held that political thought had to be as mobile and protean as its object.’
  • ‘His smile crystallized into a frozen grin, the part in his hair fracturing to the very foundations of his Brylcream.’
  • ‘The following Saturday morning, while she was sitting in front of her computer, a feeling of utter despair suddenly crystallized into a sense of determined resolve.’
  • ‘Her impatience suddenly crystallized into anger.’
  • ‘In this short, delicate song, a universal sense of the brute, soul-destroying sameness of life as it unfolds is crystallized into a simple acoustic melody, encouraging us to hurry up and wait for nothing to change.’
  • ‘This school derives from pre-existing streams of Indian Mahyna thought based on the writings of Asaga and Vasubandhu which crystallized into the Indian Yogcra (also known as the Vijñnavda) school.’
  • ‘But all my second thoughts crystallized into an unshakable conviction: I would choose death, because to live and not write what I believed to be true was not to live at all.’
  • ‘Temple building in India, by the Mediaeval Age, had gradually crystallized into two main streams - the north Indian or Indo-Aryan, and the Dravidian in south India.’
  • ‘Our overall purpose has now crystallized into a plan.’
  • ‘Luther's protest against indulgences soon crystallized into a systematic rejection of every religious assumption upon which the Catholic Church rested.’
  • ‘Unfortunately, the anger many individuals live with on a daily basis can become crystallized into their identity.’
  • ‘It seemed as though all the tears inside of her had crystallized into something hard, something strong.’
  • ‘Britain's division into two power blocks had begun, and eventually crystallized into the kingdoms of England and Scotland.’
  • ‘We believe this proposal crystallizes a clear, simple vision.’
  • ‘Her questioning at times is never crystallized and does not take a definite form.’
  • ‘The multiplicity of possible perspectives is endless, whilst the definite moment in time remains crystallised.’
  • ‘Football budgets are never transparent until they are spent, and then suddenly the truth can crystallise in front of supporters.’
  • ‘Students reported that the reading materials were interesting, helpful, and specific, and they found that the out-of-class activities allowed them to crystallize the material they had learned.’
  • ‘The historical judgment crystallized in that well-known line was the fruit of a long and distinguished career, however.’

  Synonyms

  become clear, become definite, take shape, emerge, form, materialize

  View synonyms
• 3mainly British Finance
  Convert or be converted from a floating charge into a fixed charge.

  no object ‘no deduction is given for contingent liabilities until they crystallize’

  More example sentences

  • ‘the sale may not crystallize the charge’
  • ‘When a floating charge crystallizes, its priority in relation to subsequent dealings depends on the application of the usual principles and it will generally take priority over all charges created after crystallization.’
  • ‘It follows that the charge over the book and other debts was a floating charge until it crystallised on that date.’
  • ‘The contingent liability has now crystallised into a €113 million charge in the profit and loss account.’
  • ‘Yes you can, but you must sell the shares to your pension fund, thereby crystallising any gains or losses.’
  • ‘The reduced capital gains tax rate encouraged many people to trade assets they had been sitting on for many years because of their reluctance to crystallise a tax liability and made for a more efficient allocation of capital overall.’